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TWU hockey: Spartans take down first place Clan, Coyotes

John-Paul Chapman made 35 saves as the Trinity Western Spartans shocked the first-place Simon Fraser Clan 3-0 on Friday night. It was the first time in more than four seasons the Clan was shutout.

— image credit: Scott Stewart/TWU Athletics

The Trinity Western Spartans defeated a pair of teams they had not beaten all season long.

The Spartans men's hockey team played a solid game from start to finish, snapping a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 shutout of the first-place Simon Fraser Clan on Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

This was the first time in more than four years the Clan failed to get a single goal.

"Any win is a good win but this is one you want to savour," said Spartans coach Dwayne Lowdermilk. "We played a 60-minute game and you can't ask for any more.

"It was a great overall game."

Ian Spencer scored two minutes into the game and that was all the offence needed as John-Paul Chapman made 35 saves for the shutout.

Curtis Martin and Robert Vos had the other goals.

And the Spartans made it two in a row, winning their home finale, 4-3 over the Okanagan Coyotes on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling finish.

With the game deadlocked at three, Trevor Beaupre took a drop pass from Vos on a three-on-two rush and snapped home the winning goal with 26.5 seconds remaining.

Brendan Elenko scored twice in the first period, while Vos had a goal and two assists.

"The hard work is paying off; we know we can beat these teams," Lowdermilk said. "When you get into a small seven-team league you get to know each other quickly and our guys are changing our game. We're shooting, we're hitting, we're doing it all."

The weekend results improve Trinity Western's record to 8-10-1.

The Spartans are in Victoria this weekend for a pair of games.

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